2024 Northern California Singletrack Summit is a Smashing Success!

The Northern California Singletrack Summit, first hosted by Redding Trail Alliance in 2019, made a comeback in Arcata in 2023 after pandemic restrictions were lifted. In May of 2024, the Watershed Research and Training Center hosted 73 attendees for a full weekend of activities, learning, and partnership building.

Fourteen participants learned proper dry-stack masonry trail building techniques with mentorship from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and Watershed Research and Training Center.

The event kicked off on Friday, May 3rd with a Dry Stack Masonry Workshop in the Weaver Basin Trail System, in partnership with the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This Workshop hosted 18 participants from all over Northern California, and two projects in the Weaver Basin Trail System were initiated, with one project completed. In the evening, through The Watershed Center’s first “Taps for Trails” fundraiser at the Trinity County Brewing Company, $300 were raised in support of trail maintenance efforts throughout Trinity County. 

Saturday May, 4th provided the main attraction: presentations from numerous partner organizations–California Mountain Biking Coalition, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Redding Trail Alliance, Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association, Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, and the Watershed Research and Training Center. In addition, numerous other organizations were represented from across Northern California and Southern Oregon: Ascend Wilderness Experience, Bigfoot Trail Alliance, Bureau of Land Management, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance, Trail Labs Co., Trinity County Development Corporation, and Trinity Trail Alliance.

Attendees were engaged and enthusiastic throughout the full day of presentations.

Topics covered included: trail-building successes and creative problem-solving, strategies for community outreach and input during the planning process, a panel discussion with land management agency representatives (BLM, USFS) to strengthen working relationships with nonprofits and NGOs, future plans for additional recreational opportunities–including connected community initiatives–and a productive brainstorming session envisioning a bright economic future for Northern California, all while anticipating complex needs and solutions to accommodate increased visitation. 

Attendees enjoyed delicious food from Let’s Roll while drinking beers generously donated by the Fall River and Sierra Nevada Brewing companies. Our local Trinity County Brewing Company graciously hosted the Taps for Trails event the previous night.

Sunday, May 5th provided guided trail tours of Weaver Basin Trails to 38 cyclists who rode Sweepstakes Trail from near the top of Weaver Bally all the way back into town.  The visiting trail builders and trail organization leaders were smiling ear to ear while they checked out the new and old trails that Weaverville offers.

The event has been heralded a smashing success, and all attendees are looking forward to next year’s Summit in Mount Shasta.

In 2022, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released a report valuing outdoor recreation at $563.7 billion (2.2% of gross domestic product) in the United States (Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, U.S. and States, 2022 | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis). The retail industry, arts, entertainment, food and lodging sector, as well as manufacturing all contributed to this value. After the collapse of past mining, logging, and cannabis economies in Trinity County, outdoor recreation could become a next step in stabilizing our cash flow, bolstering our facilities and amenities, and improving the quality of life of our residents.

A very large and very stoked group of cyclists were greeted with snow near the top of Weaver Bally before their descent on the new Sweepstakes Trail.

Developing regional partnerships is a primary objective of the Recreation Program at the Watershed Center. There is so much work that still needs to be done to achieve economic goals and Trinity County presently lacks the requisite people power, funding, and skills to build, grow, and sustain a regenerative recreational economy.

With continued partnership, problem-solving, innovation, and determined optimism, Trinity County could find millions of dollars flowing into our economy as people come to partake in the vast and varied recreational opportunities presented by this spectacular landscape. If a rising tide lifts all boats, we hope that the mountain biking community can lift many sectors of our local economy!

Thank you to Gabby Huffman and Steve Messer for use of their photographs!